Newsletter - Fall 2018 Final dra : simplebooklet.com

IT S CHRISTMAS TIME AGAIN It seems like the years are moving faster because it doesn t seem like a full year ago that we were caught up in all the Christmas festivities and events Every year we have church groups that come and bless the kids and our staff and this year is no different We thank God for the people that help make this time of year so special for our children Up until a few years ago Christmas was actually quite a stress for Anna and I Groups would ask for our kids details so that they could shop for the kids then bring or send wrapped presents across the border This was quite a hassle for some of the groups because when the Mexican Border officials saw boxed items in many cases they required that the boxes and bags be opened for inspection That was so disappointing for those groups who spent a lot of time and energy shopping and wrapping all those gifts A few years ago we tried an experiment with the church that we fellowship with in Del Rio That church Grace Church with pastors Terry Dorcas Maris had been faithful every year to bless the children with Christmas presents I suggested that instead of the church dividing up the names of our kids and then raising the money for each child then shopping for the presents and then finally wrapping all the gifts that they simply collect the money that the congregation donated and bring the money across and then take the kids shopping for themselves This was a major success For many of our kids they had never even been in a big store and most had never been able to shop for themselves The church had the added benefit of not having to spend all the time and energy to shop for gifts then to transport the gifts across the border So now there are several churches that have adopted this approach to bless the kids It is really a blessing for the individuals or groups that live a distance away from the border which prohibits them from making a trip here into Mexico So if you or your church have wanted to bless our ministry for Christmas but simply don t know how to get it all together maybe this is solution for you I will say though the churches that have brought shopping money and have taken the children shopping have experienced a tremendous amount of joy as they helped the children pick out their gifts The glee on those little faces is priceless If that s something you would like to do just contact me and we can discuss it From All our children our staff and Anna and I we pray that you have a Wonderful Christmas and a Blessed New Year

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OUR NEWEST AND SMALLEST ADDITION I want to introduce you to little Leonardo We received a call from Child Protective Services PRONNIF that we needed to send one of our workers to the hospital to take are of a newborn that had been abandoned and was receiving treatment for his condition at the hospital In Mexico if you have a loved one in the hospital you must attend to their daily needs Hospital staff does not provide personal care so we had to call in one of our ladies to go an stay with him Leonardo was found when he was only about 2 3 hours old He had been dumped by a pile of trash and was covered with ants by the time he was found He only weighed about 4 pounds and the umbilical cord had been cut too short and was already showing signs of infection His little lungs were not developed enough yet so he didn t cry At the time of this writing he is about 8 weeks old and has begun to thrive He is now crying which tells us he is developing and growing well We thank God that he was found before his condition had become such that surviving would not have been possible Partners this child was saved because your support keeps this children s home growing prepared and equipped to rescue and care for babies like this This is the fruit of the financial seeds you sow into our ministry MICHEL S QUINCEA ERA In the US we are accustomed to celebrating the 16th birthday party as her Sweet 16 party In Mexico the custom is to celebrate the 15th birthday with a festivity called the quincea era In Mexico the quincea era is a much more important event than our Sweet 16 party This celebration traditionally marks a girl s coming of age and afterwards she is considered a mature person who is ready to assume family and social responsibilities In many cases the families spend more on making this a more lavish occasion that even the marriage ceremony Our girl Michel turned 15 and we wanted to bless her in her tradition With the help of staff and friends we had quite a wonderful time Michel has experienced betrayal and abandonment but the Lord is healing her and she has developed a strong hope for her future something she didn t have before coming to live with us She is an amazing young lady and we are blessed to have her in our home

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BITTERSWEET GOODBYE One of the hardest things for Anna and I to cope with is not among the things that one might imagine when thinking about all the issues surrounding the operation of a children s home Our most emotionally difficult situation is when one of the children that we have raised from an infant and has been with us for several years is finally adopted This is certainly the case with Dana Dana came to us when she was an infant This beautiful little princess was brought to us in an extremely emaciated state As soon was the authorities brought her and seeing her terrible condition Anna told the agent that the child needs to be taken to the hospital but the agent told Anna that she had just come from the hospital Her mother had taken her to a poor neighbor family and asked them to take care of Dana for a short time supposedly to find another place of work but she never returned The family taking care of her obviously felt no responsibility for her so they abandoned her setting her out on the street somewhere much like someone would throw out an unwanted cat or dog She suffered from exposure hunger and dehydration before she was found and taken to the authorities But that is far behind her now as you can see she has thrived and is a happy and healthy little girl This past year she turned 4 She had started Kindergarten and is doing very well in school She is such a loving child and fun to be around She holds a very special place in our hearts Two months ago PRONNIF found a forever family for her The family lives quite a distance from Acu a so we will not have much opportunity to see her very often However we are very grateful that she is now with a great family We were able to spend time with the family getting to know them a bit and we are convinced that she will be a very loved and maybe even pampered little girl We starting missing her even before she left IS IT REALLY SO IMPORTANT TO RESCUE AND PROVIDE A HOME TO ORPHANS Please bear with me for a few minutes I m going to put on my Preacher s Hat My wife and I have been caring for children who are orphaned abandoned and abused for many many years We have heard the full range of comments ranging from those who have a profound passion to care for orphans all the way to the other side of the spectrum with the attitude that caring for orphans is only a priority for those who have the special calling from the Lord to do so It is very sad to say but the latter statement seems to be the prevailing attitude with a large percentage of Christians It is a fact Anna and I have a full time calling to provide a home for orphans but caring for orphans is NOT a specialized ministry mandated to a select few individuals that God chooses but rather it is a direct command of the Lord that EVERY CHRISTIAN provide in some way for orphans and the fatherless No one is called to do everything but everyone is called to do something For a vast majority of the Christian community the cause of the orphans and the fatherless is at or near the very bottom of the priority list if its even on the list at all of things that need to be supported It is disappointing that many pastors do not teach their congregations about the importance of obeying the Lord concerning the care and support of orphans I am so very thankful for the many that do but there a still many that don t

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We have been extremely blessed to be connected to some tremendous pastors that truly understand that the Lord has instructed His Church to care for those who can t care for themselves A pastor made a statement to me one time that I m sure he intended to be a word of encouragement It was shortly before I opened the first White Stone Children s Home in Texas in 1990 He saw that I was discouraged for the abundant lack of concern for orphans that I was dealing with in my local area and he said relax even Jesus said that we would always have the poor with us He was referring to John 12 8 So his counsel to me was that I shouldn t get so worked up because after all even Jesus inferred that the problem of the numbers of the poor and the disenfranchised was something that could not be overcome He was not the only one to quote that verse to me I realized that maybe this verse was being used to provide an excuse why the person was not involved in supporting a ministry such as ours and made him feel better that he was in the same company as Jesus in this issue BUT Jesus was making the very opposite case for giving to the orphan the widow the poor Yes it s true that Jesus made that statement but that is not what he meant Jesus was actually quoting from Deuteronomy 15 7 11 Here is that verse Jesus was referring to If among you one of your brothers should become poor in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need whatever it may be For the poor you will always have with you in the land Therefore I command you You shall open wide your hand to your brother to the needy and to the poor in your land So the statement Jesus made in The Book of John when we understand that some had taken out of context was that we are to open wide our hand to help the helpless Growing up my father was a very strict man A couple of his well used phrases were How many times do Ihave to tell you that I told you once and thats enough Then there s this one Do you think I told you to do that just to hear my head rattle and finally the one that came after I tried to provide a rebuttal for one of his instructions at which time I asked him why do I have to do that and his answer accompanied by a stare that could drive nails through a 2x4 was BECAUSE I SAID SO You and I have a Heavenly Father A Father that is also very strict BUT very loving He is most definitely full of grace and full of mercy and He loves us with a love that is incomprehensible by out finite minds but that does not make Him wishy washy when it comes to His expectation that we obey His mandates declared in His Word So when I see a scripture that tells me that I have a responsibility to do a certain thing then I find other scriptures that say it a 2nd time and then a 3rd time my Earthly father s words echo in my mind concerning my Heavenly Father God told me more than once and that s enough He didn t tell me that just to hear His head rattle and finally I need to just obey BECAUSE GOD SAID SO If only 7 percent of the 2 billion Christians in the world would care for a single orphan in distress there would effectively be no more orphans If everybody would be willing to simply do something to care for one of these precious treasures I think we would be amazed by just how much we could change the world Steven Cur0is Chapman I have found 188 verses in the Bible relating to the care and support of the poor the orphans and the the widows and I have discovered 44 of these that relate to orphans and widows specifically so I think you would agree that God is serious about caring for the orphans It is certainly a fact that God has chosen folks like Anna and I for a lifelong full time ministry of caring for orphans but He has made it abundantly clear in His Word that all believers must help in some way We often encourage our staff not to be weary in well doing as we have not only a responsibility to care for the children in the daily mundane tasks of cleaning cooking and changing diapers but to be mindful of the fact

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that we might very well have the next Mexican Billy Graham in our home and our work has great eternal consequences So we take our responsibilities to the children very seriously As I was writing this newsletter I was reminded about the story of Queen Esther If you have never read the story of Esther in the Bible I encourage you to do so It has all the mystery romance and intrigue equal to any Hollywood production I will not tell the entire story here but I need for the readers to understand the highlights Esther was born at a time when Israel was held in captivity in Persia as a consequence of their disobedience to God Esther s parents were killed when she was quite young and then adopted by a relative named Mordecai So not only was Esther a helpless child growing up in a foreign land and was part of a captive race which was held in low esteem but she was also an orphan So just how important was this orphan Through a series of God designed events and situations Esther miraculously became the wife of King Xerxes the Persian King A plot had been designed by a top advisor to the king to annihilate the Jewish people but because Esther had gained such favor with the King and was willing to stand up for her people the plot was not only stopped but the fate the advisor had planned for the Jews was turned upon him Through Esther s resolve to trust in God she influenced the king and saved her people Her courage was celebrated by a feast of Purim and a decree went out from that day on these days of Purim should be remembered and kept throughout every generation Esther 9 28 Esther is one of only two books of the Bible named after a woman an orphan living in a foreign land An ordinary woman who God raised up to be a Persian queen for a purpose she never could have imagined To this day Purim is observed by Esther s people So here s my question again Is it really so important to rescue and provide a home to orphans I believe that you will agree with me that the answer is an overwhelming YES And here s my followup question What are you doing to help an orphan or fatherless child Simply ask the Lord to guide you as you prayerfully consider what God would have you to do Please understand that I am not suggesting that you MUST support us because God may have another plan for you There maybe an orphan or fatherless child in your area that desperately needs help You may already know of a children s home that your church already supports and I encourage to connect with them but if not please ask the Lord if you are supposed to connect with us We can only affect the lives of the children that we can financially care for So we are also ways asking the Lord for partners to join with us and maybe you are one of those No matter what you do please reach out to the orphans It s not God s suggestion it s His command V I P VISITORS We had a wonderful visit from 2 of our El Corazon alumni Paula Osiel Paula and Osiel were adopted by an amazing family from the US one year ago Their family brought them for a visit last month and we were incredibly happy to see them again They had lived with us for several years and last year shortly before Thanksgiving they left to begin a new chapter in their lives The family told us about all the adventures the ups and downs and the progress in school The family is a very active family so Paula and Osiel had some great stories to share with us It does our hearts good to see these two very special kids find a home with a very loving family They have a very bright future before them and we expect to hear some great achievements in the next few years and they find their place in the American way of life We love you and miss you Paula and Osiel

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Anna and I count it a profound honor and privilege that God has entrusted the lives of these little ones to our care The joy of seeing the transformation in the face of a child that has come to us from severe neglect or horrible abuse to that of a laughing smiling little face as that child maybe for the first time in their life experience a home full of love full of life and full of Jesus We could not do what we do without financial partners coming alongside us to help provide a home where these little princes and princesses can grow in the safety security and spiritual environment that we believe that God desires for them To our existing partners Anna and I cannot express how deeply grateful we are for the generosity and consistency of your giving I can assure you on the authority of God s word that He will bless you for blessing the children If you are not already one of our monthly financial partners I urge you to join us in rescuing and caring for these orphaned abandoned abused and neglected children No gift is too small Please don t ignore these children and regard them as insignificant because God certainly doesn t and he requires His church to care for these innocent ones those who cannot care for themselves Please do not just say to yourself someone else will do it someone else will see to their needs but rather ask God what he would have you to do to help us help these children So please take some quality time and talk with the Lord about connecting with us and becoming a monthly partner The rewards are eternal DO YOU SHOP AT AMAZON Blessings Dr Ron Anna Sherman P S Please help us with the best gift you can we urgently need YOUR help P S S Here is The Lord s promise TO YOU when you help the orphans Deuteronomy 15 10 Give generously to them orphans widows and do so without a grudging heart then because of this the LORD your God will bless YOU in all your work and in everything you put your hand to If you prefer to give by Credit or Debit card go to www whitestonekids org donate USA cell phone 830 488 3928 If you use the link below to go to the Amazon website on any purchase you make Amazon will donate a small percentage of your purchase to our ministry It s super simple Just click the link below or copy and paste it into your browser address window and then shop as you usually do This is a passive way that our friends and partners can support our children s home https smile amazon com ch 74 2551611 If you prefer to send a Check or Money Order please mail to White Stone Ministries 807 B veterans Blvd 151 Del Rio TX 78840 Email drron whitestonekids org Casa Hogar El Corazon de Rey Children s Home is operated by White Stone Ministries Inc which is 501 c 3 tax exempt organization Daily Needs Kleenex Tissues Feminine Products Vitamins Children Teens Aluminum foil Ziplock bags various sizes Dish washing liquid Antibacterial hand soap Hand sanitizer Dryer sheets Vinegar Liquid detergent Powdered detergent Pinesol Clorox Shampoo Hair conditioner Deodorant Toilet paper Bar Keepers Friend powder Ammonia for washing tiled floors Hand lotion Paper towels Large trash bags Tall Kitchen trash bags Canned fruit Ragu spaghetti sauce Cereal Canned MIXED vegetables Canned corn Macaroni cheese

Newsletter - Fall 2018 Final dra